Don't Worry
by Vandesdelca
Summary: Asch loved Van. Until he ruined everything.


_This fic was originally written for indulge on LJ as part of abysssanta. _

Asch loved Van. When everyone else had abandoned him, _replaced_ him, Van was the only one who stood by his side. Van was the only one who really needed him, _wanted_ him. Van was the only one who hadn't abandoned him, was the only one who kept him by his side, was the only one who _cared _.

Asch loved Van. He would've done anything for him.

Until that _bastard _ ruined everything.

---

Van's arms were around him, holding him close as his hand slid down to his belt. "Are you ready, Luke?"

Asch -- his name was Luke back then -- was sitting in is lap, feeling a bit awkward. The rest of him was too excited to care, too excited about this new, _adult _game Van wanted to show him. He took a deep breath before answering, "I'm ready."

Van smiled at him, kind and caring. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

That was the first time Asch let Van have him. If he had known, he wouldn't have let that bastard near him at all.

---

The Daath Cathedral was so much larger than the manor, so much colder. His footsteps were never so loud and hollow back in the manor, not like they were in the Cathedral's hallways.

Back in the manor, he knew all his servants names (or at least the important ones) and everyone knew him. Here, he knew few, if any, names and here, he was just another child, another future, nameless Oracle Knight.

Only one man cared enough to give him a name.

Asch knocked on his door, cautiously, and waited for a reply. When he heard Van's muffled voice tell him to "Come in," he slowly opened the door and slid inside.

"Master Van? Can I ask you a question?"

Van looked up and immediately smiled, kind as always. He set his paperwork down and stood up. "Of course," he said, walking over to him. "What is it?"

Asch hesitated, just for a moment. Van was someone who he could trust. "Is it all right if I spend the night with you?"

Van's smile flickered, but it didn't last long. It never did. "Just for tonight." Van leaned down and kissed his forehead, then his lips. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

That night was the second time Asch let Van have. If he had known, he wouldn't have come back again and again, asking that bastard for one more night.

---

Things would have continued on like that. Asch would've been happy if things stayed like that, if he stayed by Van's side and loved him and never, ever knew. Things would've been perfect like that.

Until Van ruined it.

"You're _sick_," Asch spits the words out like venom. "You'd have to be to think of something like _that_."

Van just continues to smile, kind and caring as he always did. The same way he did before Asch learned that it was a lie. "You know it has to be done, Asch. We can't allow the old world to continue on clinging to the Score. A new world is needed, this is the only way."

"A new world full of _dreck _ is what you want?" Asch scowls. "The same sort of dreck that took _everything _from me?"

Van's smile never waivers, not when he takes slow, deliberate steps toward him. "The originals can't live, you know that. They're part of the Score, they _must _be destroyed. The Score would take your life as well if I didn't save you." Then he takes Asch's chin in his hands. "I just want you to be at my side when the world ends."

Asch growls and pushes his arm away. "What if I don't want to be by your side anymore?"

"You'll be there. I won't let any harm come to you." Van grabs his shoulders and pushes him against the wall, not hard, but enough to make Asch stiffen. And his smile is _still_ there when he leans in, almost close enough to kiss, and says, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

Then Asch punches him, hard enough to send him reeling back. Even hard enough to finally take that smile off his face. "I'll take care of myself."

Van just stares at him, hand slowly going up to his cheek as though he'd never been punched before. Then he says something he's never said before. "I _love _ you, Asch. I'm doing this for you."

Asch scoffs. "Like hell you are." He storms past him, stops, and turns back around. "The Score wasn't the one that lied to me--" _Touched me. _ "--that was _you_."

With that, he turns away and leaves. He won't let that bastard have him ever, _ever _ again.


End file.
